Guacamole

Serves 4

I didn’t grow up with Mexican Food or, for that matter, avocados. Northern Italy hadn’t yet caught the avocado fever. And so, to this day a perfectly ripe avocado still excites me (and my family back home) as a delicious start to many dishes. The easiest of them all – excluding spreading the fruit directly on to toasted bread – is to make a batch of guacamole. You can do it the traditional style with  mortar and pestle, you can take advantage of modern technology by using your Cuisineart, or you can go somewhere in between, like I do. Either way, the prerequisite of any good guacamole, is a few good, ripe avocados.

Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados
1 small shallot or 1/2 red onion
1 medium sized tomato
Juice of 1/2 lemon or less, depending on your taste
A little chili powder, if you so desire or a serrano chile
1/4 cup of cilantro leaves and stems
Salt and pepper

Instructions:
Half the avocado, remove pit and spoon the fruit into a bowl. Smash well using a fork.
Add lemon juice and mix well.
Finely mince the shallot and add to the avocado mix.
Dice the tomato finely, removing the seeds. Add to the bowl.
Chop the cilantro and mix it in as well.
Season to taste with salt (important!), pepper and, depending on your taste buds, a little or a lot of chili powder. If you are using serrano chiles, make sure that you remove the stems and seeds before mincing.

Here is a tip for when you want to make the guacamole ahead of time but don’t want it to turn brown (i.e., oxidize): leave a pit in the ready-to-eat guacamole and remove it before serving. Cover the actual guacamole (not just the bowl) tightly with saran wrap to make sure that no guac is in contact with the air.